A Sad Change (re-written)
by notagoodwriter6415
Summary: Change is always hard on a family. After a terrible tragedy, the Loud family will soon face a sad change in their lives. As for Lincoln, he will have to adjust to new changes to his life, including one he has no control over. Will he be able to adjust? Will his sisters be able to help him through it? Will things ever be the same? Only time will tell.
1. Chapter 1

Chapter 1:

One would think it would be an ordinary quiet winter night in the Loud house, at least, that's what eleven year old Lincoln Loud would think. One minute he was sleeping peacefully in his bed and the next, he's woken up by the smell of something burning. He slowly opened his eyes and yawned. He rubbed his eyes and stretched his arms.

"Morning already?" he groaned to himself.

He looked over to the clock on his nightstand and saw that is was around two o'clock in the morning.

"That doesn't make sense." He said to himself again.

He smelled the air again and the burning smell was still there.

"I hope Leni isn't trying to cook in her sleep." Said Lincoln.

Just then, Lincoln heard a set of sudden screaming coming from outside his room. From the sound of it, it sounded like the screaming came from his 10 sisters.

"What the…!" said Lincoln.

Just then new voices could be heard.

"GIRLS! LINCOLN!" came a man sounding voice.

"Dad?!" shouted Lincoln.

He raced for the door and swung it open quickly. The next thing he saw was heavy black smoke surrounding the top of the hallway. Lincoln began to cough as the smoke began to enter his nose. A dark figure could be seen down the hall.

"LINCOLN! THIS WAY! STAY LOW!" shouted the figure.

Lincoln crouched down and ran towards the figure, who he realized was his father

Lynn Sr. The older man took the boys hand and they began to run downstairs.

"DAD! WHAT'S GOING ON!?" shouted Lincoln.

"It's a fire Lincoln! We have to get out of here!" said Lynn Sr..

The reached the bottom of the stairs and they ran outside of their house.

Once they were outside, they saw the rest of their family standing on the other side of the street looking at their burning house. Lincoln's mother, Rita, was on her cellphone, talking with the 911 dispatcher. Meanwhile, Lincoln's sisters, Lori, Leni, Luna, Luan, Lynn Jr., Lucy, Lana, Lola, and Lisa, were standing next to her, clearly shaken by what they are seeing. Once Rita hung up the phone, she saw her husband and son running towards them.

"Oh, thank god!" she cried.

She hugged the two of them.

"Are you hurt Lincoln?" she asked, panic stricken in her voice.

"I-I'm ok mom." Said Lincoln.

He then turned his attention to his sisters.

"Are you guys ok?" he asked.

His sisters gathered around him and hugged him.

"We're ok Lincy." Said Leni.

As they ended their hug, they looked back and saw flames starting to shoot out from the roof of their house, just as police cars started to arrive. As the cops began to secure the scene around them, the sound of fire truck sirens could be heard in the distance. Lincoln couldn't believe that their house was on fire. How could something like this happen? It just doesn't seem real. He looked back at his parents, who were just in a state of shock. He then looked at his sisters, who were still shaking. Lincoln had never seen all nine of his sisters so shaken up before in his life. Wait, nine sisters? Lincoln didn't have nine sisters. He had ten. Which means someone was missing. At that moment, Lincoln came to a realization.

"Where's Lily?!" he said, worriedly.

Everyone looked at him and then at each other. They soon realized that the baby of the family wasn't with any of them.

"Oh my god! Where's Lily?! Where's my baby!?" said Rita, more panic in her voice then last time.

"She must still be inside!" said Lori, worried.

Lincoln looked back at the burning house. His baby sister was still inside.

"NO! LILY!" he screamed.

Before anyone could stop him Lincoln began to run back towards the house.

"LINCOLN! NO!"

They all shouted, as they began to chase after him. Lincoln ran as fast as he could towards the house, barely avoiding capture by the police officers who saw him running towards the house.

"WAIT KID! STOP!" they shouted.

By the time they began running towards Lincoln, he was already inside the house. Just as the police officers made their way up onto the front porch, fire started pouring out the door. The heat drove the officers back, just enough for the two of them to turn to see the Louds running towards the house. They both managed to hold Lynn Sr. and Rita, as well as the Loud sisters back, just as the fire department arrived.

Meanwhile inside the house, Lincoln was surrounded by fire and smoke. He was on the ground, crawling around on the floor desperately trying to find Lily. Even from where he was, the heat from the fire was almost excruciating. As Lincoln crawled, he tried hard to get his bearings. From what he could see through the smoke, he recognized what looked like to be the living room.

"LILY!" he called. "LILY, WHERE ARE YOU?!"

All Lincoln could here was the sound of the fire eating away at the house. He pulled his nightshirt over his nose and mouth, trying any way to keep the smoke out of his lungs. He crawled all through the house blindly, trying to find any sign of the one year old.

'_She's gotta be here! Maybe she's still in her crib!_' he thought.

He found his way to the stairs and raced up to the second floor. The heat from the fire grew hotter with every step he took as he ascended. When he got upstairs, he could see that most of his sisters' rooms were completely on fire. Even his bedroom was engulfed in flames. Lincoln's heart grew cold, and he silently prayed that Lily was still alive.

"LILY!" he called, as he made his way down the smoke filled hallway.

Soon enough, he began to hear a faint crying coming from one of the rooms. Lincoln raced over to the room and he grabbed the doorknob. As soon as he did, he felt extreme heat coming from knob. The searing heat was enough for Lincoln to cry out in pain, as he let go of the doorknob. Lincoln looked at his hand and saw how burned it was. At that moment, it didn't matter to him. He needed to save Lily.

"HANG ON LILY! I'M COMING!" shouted Lincoln.

Lincoln knew he had to get in that room to save his sister. He looked around for anything to open the door with and soon found a towel on the floor next to him. He grabbed the towel and quickly used it to open the door. Lincoln raced inside the room and saw flames crawling up the walls. He then saw his baby sister standing in her crib, crying like there was no tomorrow. It almost as if a monster of fire was trying to take Lily. Lincoln raced over to her and picked her up out of the crib.

"I gotcha Lily! We're getting out here!" said Lincoln.

With Lily in tow, Lincoln raced out of his sister's room and made a mad dash for the stairs.

Meanwhile outside the house, neighbors and bystanders watched idly by as the fire department tried their hardest to fight back the fire. As they were working, the entire Loud family was struggling to get past the police.

"LET GO! MY SON AND DAUGHTER ARE IN THERE!" shouted Lynn Sr..

"Sir, it's too dangerous! Let the firefighters handle this!" said one of the cops.

"PLEASE! YOU HAVE TO HELP THEM!" cried Rita.

"They will ma'am. They're getting ready to go in and get them." Said another officer.

As they spoke, two firefighters were gearing up to go look for Lincoln and Lily.

"As soon as they find them they'll bring them right out, but right now, they have to get this fire under control." Said the second police officer.

"But our brother and sister are dying in there!" screamed Luna.

"Yeah! They need help, NOW!" screamed Lynn.

"We understand. We've informed the fire department that their inside and they'll look for them. Just try and stay calm." Said the first officer.

At that moment, a loud exploding sound came from inside the house and part of the roof began to collapse inside the house.

"LINCOLN! LILY!" screamed the Louds.

Back inside the house, Lincoln and Lily had made it to the bottom of the stairs. Lincoln had placed a small cloth over his crying sister's mouth to try and stop the smoke from filling her lungs.

"Just hang on Lily! We're almost there!" said Lincoln.

He looked ahead of him and saw red flashing lights through the smoke. Lincoln started to run for the front door when a loud bang erupted from above him. Lincoln froze in place and looked above him. He saw the entire ceiling falling towards him and Lily.

"NO!" screamed Lincoln.

He jumped as far as he could, while trying to shield Lily from the impact. Before he knew it, Lincoln was on the ground, his ears ringing, with Lily just underneath him, crying louder than ever. He was lucky that he didn't crush her. Lincoln took a moment to get his bearings and the ringing in his ears started to cease. He looked all over Lily and made sure that she wasn't hurt. She seemed ok, apart from minor cuts and scrapes on her cheeks and arms. Lincoln wanted to breathe a sign of relief but he could only cough furiously. Lincoln tried to get up from the floor, but was met with an excruciating pain and pressure on the lower part of his body. Lincoln looked behind him and saw that his legs and lower back were pinned under the rubble that was once his house's roof.

"nononono! Not now! Not like this!" Shouted Lincoln.

He looked back at the front door. He was so close to getting himself and Lily out, but now he was stuck and Lily was trapped with him. He began to think that they were going to die. He brought Lily in close to him and he held her head close to his shoulder. Tears began to roll down Lincoln's cheeks, as he felt his fear and sadness building inside his heart. Just then, Lincoln heard the sound of footsteps coming towards him. He looked up and saw dark figures approaching him. He could faintly hear the figures.

"FIRE DEPARTMENT! CALL OUT!" he heard one of them say.

Lincoln coughed and tried to clear his throat.

"OVER HERE!" he called as loud as he could. "HELP!"

The figures slowly made their way towards Lincoln and soon, he was met by two firefighters. The two men looked at the pinned boy and the crying infant. Lincoln looked at Lily and knew instantly what he had to do. He had to get her out by any means necessary, even if he could leave with her. He gave her a small kiss on the forehead and said

"It's ok Lily! They're gonna save you!"

He looked up at the firefighters and shouted

"HELP HER! PLEASE! SAVE MY SISTER!"

One of the firefighters took Lily from Lincoln's arms and said

"We'll get her out! Just hang in there! We'll get you out too!"

The second firefighter tried to move some of the rubble but it wasn't budging. Lincoln coughed furiously and looked at the firefighters.

"Forget about me! Just get Lily out!" he shouted.

The firefighters just looked at each other. They both knew they needed more help to get Lincoln out, but at the same time, they didn't want to leave the boy inside alone. Like it or not, they knew they had to get the crying infant out of the building. Making this decision was very difficult for them. The second firefighter looked at Lincoln and placed his hand on his shoulder.

"We'll come back for you! I promise! Just hang in there!" he said.

They began to leave the house with Lily, leaving Lincoln behind, feeling glad that he had done something heroic. He only hoped that no one would forget what he did for his little sister. He coughed furiously again, and he started to feel tired. He figured that this might be his final moment alive.

"Mom, Dad, girls, please take care of each other." He said to the air around him, hoping that his words would reach his family.

Back outside the house, the fire department was starting to get the fire under control, as the flames began to die down. The two firefighters had just exited the house with Lily in tow.

"MEDIC!" shouted one of the firefighters.

Two men ran over from a nearby ambulance and took Lily from the firefighters. The Loud family raced over and saw Lily being treated.

"LILY! MY BABY!" cried Rita.

Lily saw her mommy and reached for her, crying loudly. Mrs. Loud scooped Lily up and held her close, with her husband and daughters joining in.

"Thank god!" said Lynn Sr..

The medics looked at the family and one of them said "She's got some minor smoke inhalation but she should be ok."

Those words were a slight relief but it was short lived when they realized that Lincoln wasn't with Lily. They looked back at the firefighters and Lynn Sr. worriedly asked

"What about our son?! Where's our boy?!"

The one firefighter then said "He's still inside the house. He's pinned under some heavy debris."

The Loud family was in shock.

"I-Is he…?!" asked Lori.

"He's still alive, but he doesn't have long. We're gonna try and get him out quickly." Said the second firefighter, who looked at one of the medics.

"Be ready to take him to the hospital." He said.

The medics nodded. "We'll stand by just outside."

The one medic said. With that, the two of them gathered 5 more firefighters and began gathering tools from their trucks. The Loud family just watched helplessly as they re-entered their home to try and save Lincoln.

Inside the house, Lincoln was in a haze. He felt extremely light headed, and his lungs felt like they were on fire. The pain in his back was burning like the sun and his legs were completely numb. He kept drifting in and out of consciousness as he heard the sound of footsteps approaching him. With his blurred vision, he saw seven sets of boots standing next to him, before he blacked out again. He began to hear muffled voices as he started to regain consciousness.

"…too unstable. We need to try and move some of…"

he started losing consciousness again.

"…try the airjacks again." Said another voice, as Lincoln regain consciousness.

He soon started to feel the pain in his back start to lessen, but it was still excruciating.

"Alright he's free. Move him on three. One, two, three!"

Lincoln soon felt himself being moved out from under the rubble and then lifted into the air.

"Hang in there kid!" said a voice.

Lincoln was starting to wish he could stay focused enough to find out what was happening. But that thought was soon squashed when he started losing consciousness again.

The firefighters began to leave the house with one of them carrying Lincoln. The medics rolled their gurney over to them and the firefighter holding Lincoln placed him on it. The medics began to work on Lincoln quickly, assessing the damage done to him.

"Severe third degree burns, smoke inhalation, possible carbon monoxide poisoning."

Said the first medic, as he placed an oxygen mask over Lincoln's mouth and nose.

"Could have a concussion too, as well as a possible spine fracture and broken bones in his legs. Let's get him loaded up." Said the second medic, as they started to move Lincoln to the ambulance.

The Loud family just stood there, extremely worried over Lincoln's condition.

"Lincoln!" called Lynn Sr..

They raced over to him as the medics began to load him onto the ambulance.

"Lincoln?! Son?!" said Lynn Sr..

"Sir, he's unconscious. We're taking him to the hospital now. We'll meet you there." Said the first medic, as he closed the door.

The second medic closed the other door and looked at the Loud family.

"We'll take care of him until we get to the hospital." He said.

He then raced to the cab of the ambulance and they began to drive off quickly with their lights on and sirens screaming. The Loud family just stood there as the ambulance left. The girls were worried sick for their only brother as well as their parents. Knowing that they needed to be there for him, Lynn Sr. talked to one of the police officers and was able to get the family van from their driveway. Amazingly the van wasn't completely damaged. The Loud family scrambled into the van and they raced to the hospital as quickly as they could.

Hours went by as the Loud sisters sat in the hospital waiting room. No one had come to tell them the status of Lincoln. Last thing they heard was that Lincoln was in surgery, but that was over two hours ago. Lynn Sr. and Rita were currently in another part of the hospital getting Lily treated. Lori was busy holding her younger twin siblings, Lana and Lola, trying her best to comfort them. Leni kept fiddling her sleep mask in her hands, trying to process everything that was happening. Luna kept her hand on Luan's back, who had her knees to her chest and trembling slightly. While you couldn't tell from her emotionless expression, Lucy was very shaken up, and was currently holding hands with Lynn and Lisa. None of them could've ever imagined that something like this could happen to them, especially knowing that their only brother was in surgery. A short time later, Lynn Sr. and Rita returned but without Lily, which concerned the sisters.

"Lily is getting treated for minor injuries. They're gonna bring her to us when she's all better." Said Lynn Sr., in a comforting voice.

This brought slight relief to the Loud sisters. The last thing they needed was their baby sister needing something more than just scrapes and cuts. Just then, a man in a white coat and blue hospital scrubs came walking out into the waiting room.

"Excuse me, is anyone here the parents of Lincoln Loud?"

Lynn Sr. and Rita immediately rose and Lynn Sr. said "Yes, we're his parents."

The doctor held out his hand and said

"I'm Dr. Marino, I am in charge of Lincoln's case."

He shook both their hands and held up his clipboard.

"Is he ok? Please tell me my baby boy's ok." Asked Rita, worriedly.

Marino looked at them and took a breath.

"Well, there is some good news and there is some bad news." He said, calmly.

The Loud family gulped at the sound of that. Marino looked at his clipboard and said

"Well, the good news is that he doesn't have any trace of carbon monoxide in his system, and the burns on his back should heal, although there might be some scarring."

The Louds signed with relief.

"Oh, thank god." Said Rita.

The doctor looked at them with a more serious expression.

"However, this is an issue we need to discuss." He said.

They all looked at him. "What issue? What's wrong?" asked Lynn Sr.

Marino looked at his clipboard again and began to explain.

"Well, the surgery that we had to do on Lincoln involved repairing any damage done to his spine. We had to call in an expert to help with the procedure. Unfortunately, we weren't able to completely fix the damage done. The nerves in his spine were partially damaged from the fire and we can't do anything to repair it." He said.

A huge pit formed in the Louds' stomachs.

"S-So, what are you saying?" asked Rita, on the verge of tears.

Marino sighed sadly and looked at them.

"I'm afraid that the damage done to Lincoln's spine will leave him as a paraplegic."

Lynn Sr. and Rita were in shock.

"P-Paraplegic?" said Rita, tears now streaming down her face.

The Loud sisters looked at each other worriedly.

"W-What does that mean, paraplegic?" asked Leni.

Lisa took a cautious breath as tears formed in her eyes.

"It means… th-that Lincoln will never be able to walk again." She said.

Those final words hit the Louds like a tone of bricks. Lynn Sr. and Rita had to sit down and Rita began crying into her husband's shoulder. Lola and Lana both looked up to Lori with tears in their eyes.

"L-Lincoln won't ever walk again?" asked Lola, on the verge of crying.

Lori couldn't fight it any longer. She brought her siblings close to her and squeezed tightly. Lana and Lola began crying into Lori's shirt. Lori held her twin siblings tightly and started crying herself. Leni joined Lori's hug and began crying as well. Luna and Luan held each other and sobbed along with their sisters. Lynn and Lisa hugged Lucy tightly and the three of them began crying as well. Dr. Marino sadly watched the family break down. If there was one thing he hated doing, it was delivering bad news.

After a couple minutes, the crying started to cease. Rita wiped her eyes and looked at Dr. Marino.

"C-Can we see him? P-Please?" she asked, shakily.

Marino nodded. "Sure, but keep in mind that we have him under heavy sedation. We don't want to wake him for a couple days. It'll give some time for the burns to heal."

Nodding to the doctor, the Loud family followed him back to the ICU. Once they found Lincoln's room, they all entered and gathered around his bed. They knew he was in bad shape, but never to this extent. Lincoln had bandages wrapped all over his lower torso and smaller bandages on his face and arms. There was even a small wrap on his hand from where he grabbed the doorknob to Lily's room. He also had some air tubes placed in his nose so he could get fresh oxygen. It was heartbreaking. Rita walked closely to Lincoln and took hold of his un-bandaged hand.

"Oh, my poor baby." She cried.

She gently brushed away some stray hairs. Lynn Sr. placed his hand on Lincoln's shoulder, feeling terrible about his boy's condition. The Loud sisters gathered around their only brother, each placing their hand on some part of Lincoln's body, just to feel like he knew they were there. This was by far the worst night of their lives and they don't even know if things could get better. Even if they could, how would they be able to cope? How can they move on from this? How will Lincoln react to the sad news about his condition when he wakes up? All these thoughts kept racing through their minds and none of them had an answer. Only time will tell if things will improve for them and for Lincoln.


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter 2:

The following morning was anything but smooth and easy. After spending nearly four hours with Lincoln in the hospital, the entire Loud family was exhausted. Without a home to go back to, Lynn Sr. and Rita were desperate to find a place to stay so their family could rest. Luckily for them, their elderly neighbor, Mr. Grouse, was kind enough to let them stay the rest of the night and for however long they needed until things get sorted out. While there wasn't much space in his house, Mr. Grouse made every effort to make sure that the Louds were accommodated properly, even if a few of the siblings had to sleep on couches or blowup mattresses. Still, it was better than nothing and the Louds were grateful for everything Mr. Grouse had done.

During the late hours of the morning, Lynn Sr. and Rita were outside the ruins of their house talking with the fire marshal. They're hope was that he had some answers as to how the fire started and what they could do to get their life back together. Meanwhile, Lori, Leni, Luna, and Luan were awake in the living room keeping an eye on their sleeping younger sisters. Lori was sitting on the couch with a sleeping Lily in her arms. Leni was sitting on the other side of the couch with Lana and Luna lying on either side of her, resting their heads on her lap. Luna was sitting on the floor next to an air mattress that had Lynn sleeping on it, while across from them Luan was sitting next to another air mattress with Lucy and Lisa sleeping on it. None of them spoke a word to each other, either out of fear or waking their younger siblings or just reliving the terrible events of last night. Mr. Grouse had just walked into the living room and looked at the Loud sisters. He's never heard them so quiet before. While normally he would be pleased with this silence, it was actually starting to really concern him.

"Do you girls want any tea or something to drink?" he asked in a low whisper-like voice.

Lori looked up at Mr. Grouse and said "No, thank you. We're ok Mr. Grouse."

The other awake siblings nodded in agreement. Mr. Grouse nodded back to them.

"Alright. If you girls need anything, let me know." He said kindly to them.

He walked quietly out of the room and out the front door. He sighed sadly as he looked into the window.

'_Poor kids._' He thought to himself.

He looked out at the remains of the Loud house and saw Lynn Sr. and Rita talking to the fire marshal. He felt sorry for the two of them. First their house catches on fire, and then their son ends up in the hospital and loses his ability to walk. It just seemed like a bad dream. As Lynn Sr. and Rita shook hands with the fire marshal and started to make their way back towards his house, Mr. Grouse walked down in front porch and met them on the walkway.

"Any news?" he asked.

Lynn Sr. sighed. "Apparently the fuse box in the basement somehow short circuited and started a fire inside the walls. It just spread from there and, well, you know the rest." He said.

"That's a shame. Is there anything that can be done at this point?" asked Mr. Grouse.

"Well, I spoke with the insurance company, and they said they would give us the money to rebuild the house, but it might not be enough to completely rebuild it. We would have to pay out of pocket if they don't give us enough." Said Rita.

Mr. Grouse understood. "I see. Well, if it helps you at all, I might know a few contractors that might be able to help rebuild your house. They might even give you a break given the circumstances." He said.

"Mr. Grouse, you don't have to do that. You've done enough for us already." Said Lynn Sr.

"Please, Lynn. It's the least I could do. With everything that's happened to your family, you deserve a bit of a break. Especially with what happened to Lincoln." Said Mr. Grouse.

Lynn Sr. sighed and gave a sad smile to Mr. Grouse. He shook his hand and said

"Thank you Mr. Grouse. We really appreciate it." Said Lynn Sr.

"And thank you for letting us stay here. As soon as we're able to work out the details with Shirley about us staying with her, we'll be out of your hair." Said Rita.

"Rita, take all the time you need. I'm more than happy to have you all stay here. Now, let's head inside and I'll see if I can't find the numbers of those contractors." Said Mr. Grouse.

The three of them headed inside and walked back towards the kitchen. Meanwhile in the living room, all the Loud sisters were awake. Leni, Lynn, and Luna were playing with Lily, using old toys that Mr. Grouse had found in his attic. Lucy was writing poems on some paper, though it seemed to be taking her longer than usual. Lisa was trying to keep busy with some mathematical equations, but she had to redo or review her work to make sure she didn't make any mistakes, which she normally never had to do. Luan was watching some comedy show on TV but was barely laughing at the jokes and slapstick humor. Lori just sat there on the couch watching her siblings. She couldn't deny that there was a total change in her siblings' behaviors. Lori knew the reason for this was either the fire itself, what happened to Lincoln, or a combination of the two. She couldn't also deny that she too had changed. She hadn't tried to blow any of her siblings off or pulled out her cellphone all day. At that moment, she realized that she hadn't checked her phone since before the fire. She reached into her pocket and pulled out her cellphone. She saw on the screen that she had fifteen missed calls, all from her boyfriend Bobby. Lori knew she had to call him back, but at the same time, she didn't want to leave her siblings.

"Hey guys, I'm gonna step out and call Bobby. Will you be ok for a minute?" she asked, hesitantly.

"Yeah, sis. We'll be fine." Said Luna.

"Yeah. Go call Bobby. He's probably worried about you." said Leni.

Lori nodded and she started to leave the room. She walked outside onto the front porch and she dialed Bobby's number. The phone barely rang once before Lori heard the sound of her boyfriend's voice.

"_Lori?!_" he said, slightly panicked.

"Hey Boo-boo bear." Said Lori, in a saddened tone.

"_Are you ok? I saw on the news what happened. I tried calling you but you didn't answer._" Said Bobby.

"I'm fine Boo-Boo. I-I'm not hurt. I'm sorry for not calling sooner. There's just been a lot going on." Said Lori. She felt a sharp stinging in her heart as memories of last night crept into her mind.

"_Hey, it's fine babe. I understand._" Said Bobby, in a comforting voice.

Lori smiled slightly at the sound of his voice. She knew she could always count on Bobby to comfort her is stressful situations, and if there was ever a time she needed him, it was now.

"Boo-Boo, can we meet up in a little bit? At the park, maybe?" asked Lori.

"_Of course. I can be over there in twenty minutes if I catch the bus early enough._" Said Bobby.

"Great. I'll see you then. And Bobby?" said Lori.

"_Yeah Lori?_" said Bobby.

"I love you." said Lori, trying to fight back tears.

"I love you to, baby." Said Bobby.

The two of them hung up their phones and Lori leaned against the wall. A small shaky breath left her lips and she blinked away her oncoming tears. After taking a minute to compose herself, she walked back inside Mr. Grouse's house and she went to see her parents. She found them with Mr. Grouse in the kitchen, looking at a few business cards from contractors the elderly man knew.

"Hey Mom, Dad?" she said.

Lynn Sr. and Rita looked at Lori.

"Yes Lori?" asked Rita.

"I'm going to go see Bobby at the park. I don't know how long I'll be gone for." Said Lori.

Rita and Lynn Sr. looked to each other with the same concern feeling. Lori normally wouldn't tell them how long she would be with Bobby. However, given last night's events, they could understand why she would want to go see him. They looked back to Lori with a look of understanding.

"It's ok Lori. Go see Bobby. Take as long as you need." Said Lynn Sr.

Lori smiled gratefully. "Thanks. And you'll call me if something's wrong with the others, right? Or if something's wrong with Lincoln?" she asked.

"Of course honey. We'll call if we need anything." Said Rita.

"Ok, good." Said Lori.

With that she left the kitchen and went back to the living room. She looked to two of her sisters and called to them.

"Hey, Leni? Luna?" she said.

The two of them looked back at Lori. Lori motioned for them to follow her outside. Luna understood, but Leni didn't. Luna walked over to Leni and whispered in her ear.

"She wants to talk outside." Whispered Luna.

"Oohh." Said Leni.

The two of them followed Lori outside onto the porch. Lori looked at the two of them with a concerned look. 

"I'm gonna head out and meet Bobby at the park. Can you two make sure that everyone's ok while I'm gone, and call me if there's a problem?" said Lori.

Leni and Luna looked at each other. Lori never asked them to do something like this before.

"Yeah, sis. We'll keep an eye on them." Said Luna.

"We'll make sure they're alright." Said Leni.

Lori smiled and she hugged her sisters, something that again surprised them both.

"Thanks. Remember, call me if there's a problem." Said Lori.

They broke from their hug and Leni patted Lori's shoulder.

"We will. We promise. Now, go see Bobby." Said Leni.

Lori nodded, and she started to make her way towards the park. Leni and Luna watched their older sister leave, both feeling very worried about her.

"Man, I've never seen her act like that before." Said Luna.

"Me neither. It's like she wasn't herself." Said Leni.

"We should probably keep an eye on her when she gets back." Said Luna.

"Yeah, I'll let Luan and Lynn know too. Better six eyes keep an eye on Lori than 4." Said Leni.

"You mean eight." Said Luna.

"Eight?" asked Leni.

"Never mind. Let's just go tell the others." Said Luna.

The two of them walked back inside the house to go express their concern about Lori to their younger siblings. Meanwhile, Lori had arrived at the park a few minutes later. She arrived at a small park bench where she sat down to wait for Bobby to arrive. Lori just sat in silence as she kept thinking about what she was going to say to him. She wanted to tell him that she was ok, but she knew she wasn't ok. Her house burned down, and her brother was in the hospital. It then occurred to her that she would have to tell him about Lincoln. She wasn't sure she could handle that. Bobby was kind of attached to Lincoln. He was like a little brother to Bobby. She wasn't sure how he would take to handling the news of Lincoln's condition. Each thought of the subject was tearing her heart apart bit by bit. It was becoming too much for her to bear. Just then, Lori was snapped from her thoughts when she heard a voice calling her.

"LORI!" called the voice.

Lori looked up and saw Bobby running towards her. Lori stood up from the bench and ran towards Bobby.

"Boo-Boo bear!" she cried.

The two of them began to embrace each other tightly. Lori started to cry into Bobby's shoulder and tremble. Bobby held the back of Lori's head and gently rubbed her back.

"I'm so glad your ok." Said Bobby.

The two partly separated and looked into each other's eyes.

"You are ok, right?" asked Bobby, concerned.

"Yeah, _sniff_, I'm ok Bobby." Said Lori.

"Good. I'm happy that you're ok." Said Bobby.

The two of them sat down on the bench and Bobby took hold of Lori's hands.

"What happened Lori? How did your house catch fire?" asked Bobby.

"I don't know Boo. I'm not sure how it happened." Said Lori, sadly.

"Is everyone ok? Are your sisters ok?" asked Bobby.

"Yeah, they're fine." Said Lori.

She knew right away where this was going to lead. She desperately wanted these questions to end, but she knew it wouldn't.

"And your parents?" asked Bobby.

"They're fine, too." Said Lori.

She knew what his next question was going to be and she could already feel fresh tears starting to form.

"And Lincoln? Is Lincoln ok?" asked Bobby.

At that moment, tears started to flow down Lori's cheeks and she looked at Bobby. She sadly shook her head.

"No, Bobby. Lincoln's not ok." She cried.

Lori leaned forward and pressed her face into Bobby's shoulder. Bobby was shocked at her answer and his worry grew exponentially.

"W-What happned?! Is he…?!" he asked.

Lori shook her head. "N-No, he's alive, but he's in the hospital." Cried Lori.

"What happened to him?" asked Bobby.

Lori practically cried through her explanation of what happened to Lincoln. She told Bobby about how Lily was trapped inside the fire and how Lincoln dashed inside to save her. She then told him about when the roof collapsed and how the firefighters had to go save him. Then came the explanation of what the doctor told them when he was out of surgery, and how Lincoln was never going to be able to walk again. Bobby just sat there in shock as she told this story and the news about Lincoln's condition felt like a horse kicked him square in the chest.

"Oh god. Lori, I'm… I'm so sorry." Said Bobby.

He brought Lori closer to him and he let her cry into his chest. Lori gripped Bobby' shirt tightly and she shook terribly at the memory.

"I-I wish this never happened! I-I didn't want any of this to happen! I don't want Lincoln to be in the hospital! I don't want him to spend the rest of his life not being able to walk! I want him back home with us being his usual goofy self! I want my little brother back!" cried Lori.

Bobby was heartbroken over Lori's anguish. He knew how attached to her siblings she was, especially Lincoln. The two of them might never have gotten along great, but they still loved each other, despite being so different. Even if Lori was having a bad day, she always counted on Lincoln to be there to brighten her day up or help her out with whatever she was dealing with. But now that he was in the hospital and never going to walk again, he wasn't sure how Lincoln was going to be. Bobby could do nothing but give whatever comfort he could to Lori.

"Shhh, it's ok Lori. It's ok. Everything's going to be ok." Said Bobby, in a comforting voice.

"I miss him Bobby!" cried Lori.

"I know, Lori. I do, too." Said Bobby.

"We haven't even talked to him yet. He's still at the hospital unconscious." Cried Lori.

"It's ok, Lori. You'll see him soon." Said Bobby.

"Bobby, we… we have to tell him about… about his condition. I don't think I can handle it." Said Lori.

She looked up at Bobby with tears streaming down her face.

"How can I just stand there while some doctor tells him he's never going to walk again? I can't go through with that. I can't just stand there and watch my brother break down over hearing that." Cried Lori.

"I get it babe. I really do. I don't think anyone can go through something like that." Said Bobby.

Lori looked down at the ground and rubbed her tears from her eyes.

"Tell you what. How about I come along with you and your family to see Lincoln when he wakes up?" said Bobby.

Lori looked up at Bobby with surprise.

"Y-You'd do that?" she asked.

"Of course. If your family doesn't mind, that is." Said Bobby.

"_sniff, _I'm sure they wouldn't. We could use the support." Said Lori.

"Then it's settled. When is Lincoln going to be woken up?" asked Bobby.

"In a couple days." Said Lori.

"Ok. I'll be there. I just hope nothing else happens. I don't want to explain to Ronnie Anne that…" said Bobby.

It was at that moment Bobby realized something.

"Ronnie Anne! She saw the news and she's been worried sick about Lincoln. I-I don't how I'm going to explain this to her." Said Bobby.

At that moment, Lori realized something as well and she gasped.

"Clyde! Lincoln's best friend! I don't know if he knows about Lincoln!" said Lori.

"What are we going to do?" asked Bobby.

Lori was silent. She wasn't sure what they were going to do. She knew right off the bat that Clyde didn't take bad news well. Hearing about what happened to Lincoln could put Clyde in the hospital as well. Ronnie Anne, however, was another story. She grew attached to Lincoln, so she wasn't sure how she was going to react. Just then, an idea came to her mind.

"The only thing we can do. We have to get them together and tell them what happened." Said Lori.

"When should we do it?" asked Bobby.

"The sooner the better. Why don't you bring Ronnie Anne to our neighbor's house around two? We're staying with him for the time being. We'll call Clyde and tell him to come over. We'll all explain what happened then." Said Lori.

Bobby nodded. "Ok. Sounds like a plan to me." He said. He then sighed sadly.

"I'm really not looking forward to telling them." He said.

"I'm not either, Boo. But we can't keep this from them." Said Lori.

"I know. Still, this isn't going to be easy." Said Bobby, as he stood up.

Lori stood up with him and gave him a hug.

"I know it isn't. We just have to take it slow with them." Said Lori.

The two separated and looked into each other's eyes.

"I'll see you around two then." Said Bobby.

Lori leaned in and gave Bobby a kiss on his lips and said.

"Ok. Until two." Said Lori.

The two started to walk away from each other, but Lori stopped. She turned around and said

"Bobby?"

Bobby turned around. "Yeah Lori?"

"Thank you." said Lori, with a sad smile.

Bobby returned the smile and said. "Of course. I love you."

"Love you too." Said Lori.

The two went their separate ways, and Lori was already dreading what she and the others had to do. Breaking bad news to people was something that she never enjoyed, and she knew her siblings and parents wouldn't like it either. A fact that was proven when she returned to Mr. Grouse's house. She explained to them that they needed to tell Clyde and Ronnie Anne what happened to Lincoln and his condition was. No one was ready to break the bad news to Lincoln's friends. If anything, they wanted to keep them out of this until they felt strong enough to tell them. Still, keeping something like this from Lincoln's friends was wrong. They had a right to know what was happening to their friend, even if it might hurt them. It was decided that they would break the bad news to them at the time Lori had suggested. From there, Lynn had called Clyde and asked him to come over to Mr. Grouse's house so they could talk. Clyde had acknowledged that he would come and would be there at two o'clock. Lori then double-checked with Bobby to see if Ronnie Anne would come. He confirmed it with her and now everything was set. The only thing that was left was for the Loud family to brace themselves for the following conversation.

Two o'clock came sooner than anyone had thought. Clyde was walking down the block when he saw the wreckage of the Loud house. He ran up to the caution tape that was draped across the front lawn and just stared in shock. He'd never seen such destruction before.

"Oh my god!" he said, worriedly.

At that moment, Clyde heard a familiar voice calling him.

"Clyde!"

He looked over and saw Ronnie Anne running towards him, with Bobby trailing behind. When she reached him she just stared at the wreckage.

"This is terrible!" she said, sadly.

"I know. My dads told me their house was on fire, but I'd never thought it was this bad." Said Clyde.

"I hope everyone's ok." Said Ronnie Anne.

"Yeah. I hope Lincoln's ok too." Said Clyde.

"Me too." Said Ronnie Anne.

At that moment, they both heard their names being called.

"Ronnie. Clyde."

They both turned around and saw Bobby and Lori standing on Mr. Grouse's front porch.

"Come in here. There's something we need to talk about." Said Bobby, sadly.

Clyde and Ronnie Anne looked at each other, both feeling a great uncertainty about what was happening. They walked over to Mr. Grouse's house and they followed Lori and Bobby inside the house. They were led into the living room where the rest of the Loud family and Mr. Grouse were gathered around. Lori and Bobby took their place next to Leni and Lynn. Clyde and Ronnie Anne were now starting to get a bad feeling, especially when they noticed Lincoln wasn't there.

"What's going on?" asked Clyde.

Lynn Sr. sadly looked at them and he motioned for them to come in.

"Have a seat, you two. There's something we need to talk about." He said.

Clyde and Ronnie Anne did what he said and the sat down on one of the air mattresses. The two of them looked at the others and could clearly see the saddened expression. Lynn Sr. decided to take the lead on this.

"Now, I'm sure you guys are wondering why we asked you to come here." said Lynn Sr.

"Well, yeah. I mean, is something going on?" asked Ronnie Anne.

"Does it have something to do with the fire?" asked Clyde.

"Yes, Clyde. It does involve the fire." Said Lynn Sr.

"You guys are ok, right?" asked Ronnie Anne.

"Yes, we're ok Ronnie." Said Mrs. Loud.

"Do you know how the fire happened?" asked Clyde.

"Yes. An electrical panel in the basement short circuited and caused the fire." Said Lynn Sr.

"That sucks. Well, at least you guys are ok." Said Clyde.

"So, where's Lincoln? How come he's not here?" asked Ronnie Anne.

Silence fell over the room. The Loud sisters looked at each other with sadness on their faces. Lori looked to Bobby for support and he held her hand. Clyde and Ronnie Anne were now starting to worry.

"Where's Lincoln?" Said Clyde, worriedly.

Lynn Sr. took a breath and looked at the two of them.

"Lincoln… is in the hospital." He said, sadly.

Both Clyde and Ronnie Anne were shocked.

"WHAT!?" they both said.

"What happened?!" asked Ronnie Anne.

Lynn Sr. began to tell them the events of last night. He told them how Lily was trapped inside the house and Lincoln went back in to save her. He then told them about the collapse and how firefighters had to save him. He ended with Lincoln being in the hospital, but stopped it there.

"Oh god! Lincoln." Said Ronnie Anne, tears forming in her eyes.

Clyde was close to hyperventilating.

"I-Is he going to be ok?" he asked with shaky breath.

Rita took a breath and blinked her tears back.

"We really want to say yes, but I'm afraid that we can't. From what the doctor told us, Lincoln has some damage done to the nerves in his spine from when the roof collapsed on top of him. Because of that Lincoln will…" Rita tried to say, but she couldn't finish.

She tried hard to fight back her tears but it was no use. Leni began to hug her mother, in an attempt to calm her down. This only brought on further worry to both Ronnie Anne and Clyde.

"What?! Lincoln will what?!" asked Ronnie Anne.

Lynn Sr. sadly closed his eyes and said "Because of the nerve damage, Lincoln will…never be able to… to walk again."

Those final words felt like a truck just ran over both Clyde and Ronnie Anne. Neither of them could believe what the just heard. Lincoln, their best friend in the whole world, will never be able to walk for the rest of his life. It just felt like a living nightmare.

"NO! NO! YOU'RE LYING! IT'S NOT TRUE!" screamed Ronnie Anne.

"It is true Ronnie Anne. I really wish it wasn't, but it is." Cried Rita.

"N-NO! I-I DON'T BELIEVE YOU!" screamed Ronnie Anne, tears streaming down her face.

She looked to her brother, who was already by her side.

"B-Bobby? Please t-tell me this isn't true!" cried Ronnie Anne.

Bobby said nothing to his sister and pulled her into a comforting hug. Ronnie cried into Bobby's chest in full force. Her sadness echoed through Mr. Grouse's house. Meanwhile, Clyde was now hyperventilating with tears streaming down his face.

"N-No! Linc, _pant_, Linc, _pant_, it can't, _pant_, it can't be, _pant_…" he tried to say, but be couldn't get the words out, but his breathes were too staggered.

Before he knew it, he felt someone pull him into a tight hug. It was then he realized it was Luna hugging him.

"Breathe Clyde. Breathe." She said, with tears in her eyes.

Clyde began to calm down, but only to start crying along side Ronnie Anne. Luna did her best to comfort Clyde, but she felt like it wasn't enough. Just then, Luan, Lana, and Lola joined in the hug, crying along side Clyde. Everyone else just watched the sad scene in front of them. This was by far the worst thing they have ever had to do. They knew they were doing the right thing by telling them, but it was still a heartbreaking thing to witness. It took at least five whole minutes before they all managed to calm down. Clyde had taken his glasses off and wiped the tears away from his eyes. Bobby had begun to try and dry Ronnie Anne's eyes, and he gave a small kiss on her head. Lynn Sr. had knelt down to the both of them and looked at them both in their eyes.

"I'm so sorry we had to tell you this, but you both needed to know what was happening." Said Lynn Sr.

Clyde placed his glasses back on and said "N-No, it's ok. I'm glad you told us. It's just a lot to take in."

Ronnie Anne sniffled a little and asked "Can we… Can we see him?"

"Unfortunately, Lincoln isn't going to be awake for another couple days. We're not gonna be able to see him until then." Said Lynn Sr.

"Can we be there when he wakes up?" asked Clyde.

"Of course. He'll want you both there for him." said Lynn Sr.

With everything settled, Clyde and Ronnie Anne began to leave with Bobby following behind. Once they were outside, Bobby gave a kiss to Lori, and the three of them started to walk home.

"Come on Clyde. We'll walk you back." Said Bobby.

"Thanks Bobby." Said Clyde.

The three of them soon started to walk towards Clyde's house. Meanwhile, Lori watched the three of them walk away. She felt relieved that Clyde and Ronne Anne now know, but she still felt heartbroken about telling them about Lincoln's condition. But it was for the best, because she and her family knew now that Lincoln's friends will be there for him no matter what happens. Even if Lincoln wasn't ever going to walk again, he still had his friends and family to look out for him and help him cope with not being able to walk. After reaching that conclusion, Lori walked inside Mr. Grouse's house and rejoined her family to discuss how they were going to break the news to Lincoln.


	3. Chapter 3

Chapter 3:

Today's the day. The day that everyone was both happy and dreading all at the same time. Today is the day Lincoln is going to be woken up. While the Loud family was excited to see Lincoln wake up, they were also scared about what they were going to have to tell him. They couldn't imagine how he would take the news about losing his ability to walk. Would he be sad? Would he be angry? They just don't know. These thoughts plagued everyone as they made their way to the hospital.

A deep pit seemed to have formed in Lynn Sr.'s stomach as he drove the family van. He always figured the hardest part of his life would be asking his wife to marry him or raising eleven kids. But that proved to all be wrong after the fire. Now the hardest thing he had to do was tell his son, his only son, that he will never walk again. He couldn't think of a single father in his lifetime that had to go through something like this. Lynn Sr. then started to think about all the things Lincoln was going to miss out on because of this. He could never enjoy some of the activities he used to enjoy. He could never run around and play with his sisters. He could never go for swims at the pool or the beach. Lynn Sr. felt like he was going to be sick. He wanted to feel like he was going to wake up from this nightmare but he knew it wouldn't happen. This was really happening. This was a reality he couldn't escape.

Rita wasn't fairing much better. The whole trip to the hospital she kept thinking about the special care Lincoln would need. She then began to worry that things could get worse. What if his injury got worse and he started to lose feeling in his arms or his whole body? What if something went wrong where he would need to return to the hospital? What if another fire broke out and he wasn't able to escape? What if… No, that wouldn't happen. Not again. She wouldn't allow it. She would do whatever it took to protect her son. She wasn't going to relive that night ever again. She made a promise to herself that Lincoln would be safe, no matter what.

In the back of the van, the Loud sisters were lost in their own thoughts, but they were all thinking about the same thing. What could they do to help Lincoln? They knew that because of his condition he wasn't going to be able to do certain things. This meant that they were going to have to help him. They would have to help him move around, get things for him, help him get dressed or even bathe him if need be. It was a lot of responsibility, but to the Loud sisters, it would be worth it. After everything Lincoln has done for them, the least they could to was help him whenever they could. The only question they had was would Lincoln accept the help. He was never really the type to come to his sisters for help unless he had no choice. He was more of the problem solver of the family than the one who had the problem. But now, Lincoln had a big problem, a problem that will affect the rest of his life. Not only that, Lincoln also had a tiny bit of a stubborn streak in him, which could make things difficult. Despite that, they were going to do everything they could to help him, whether he wanted it or not.

As the family van pulled into the parking lot, they were met with Bobby, Ronnie Anne, Clyde, and Clyde's fathers, Howard and Harold McBride. They were waiting patiently for the Louds to arrive. As the Loud family climbed out of the van, they greeted their friends.

"Thank you for coming. Lincoln will definitely appreciate all this support." Said Lynn Sr., as he shook Howard and Harold's hands.

"It's the least we could do. When Clyde told us what happened we knew we had to be here for Lincoln." Said Harold.

"Lincoln's always felt like a second son to us. If anything were to happen to that boy, I know we wouldn't be able to live with ourselves." Said Howard.

"We appreciate you think of him like that. Lincoln always did say you two were fun to hang out with when he was over with Clyde." Said Rita.

"Well, I guess we shouldn't waste any more time out here. Lincoln's going to be woken up soon. He'll want us all there for him." said Lynn Sr..

"Of course. Let's head inside, then." Said Howard.

They all started to file into the hospital, anxious to see the white haired eleven-year-old. As they made their way towards Lincoln's room Bobby took hold of Lori's hand. He knew that she was going to need all the support he could give. At the same time, he held Ronnie Anne's hand, knowing his little sister needed just as much support. Howard and Harold each placed a hand on Clyde's shoulders; easing whatever nervousness he was feeling inside. Lynn Rita led them towards Lincoln's room, holding each other's hands tightly. Anxiety felt between the both of them, knowing the terrible news they had to break to their son. Leni held Lily close to her, hoping the little infant could provide some form of loving comfort to her. Luna held the twin's hands as they walked, feeling how scared both Lana and Luna were. She would be lying to herself if Luna didn't admit that she too was scared. She didn't know how this was going to go or what Lincoln was going to do. Lisa walked closely to Lynn, thinking she could somehow absorb some of her bravery. Lynn took hold of her hand, feeling just as scared as she was. Lucy and Luan kept themselves close to Leni and Lily, fearing the outcome of this whole thing, even if you couldn't tell if that fear was present in Lucy.

As they made their way into Lincoln's room, the saw Dr. Marino and a nurse looking over Lincoln's charts. When he noticed the large family walking in, he greeted them at the door.

"Ah, just in time. Please, come in. We were just about to wake him." he said.

The Loud family, the McBrides, and Bobby and Ronnie Anne gathered around in Lincoln's room. To say that it was a little cramped would be an understatement. Lynn Sr. and Rita took their place next to Lincoln's bed and Rita took hold of Lincoln's hand. Dr. Marino stood on the other side of the bed and looked around the room. He was amazed that one boy had so much support. Lincoln was lucky to have them, especially during this difficult time. He looked at Lynn Sr. and Rita.

"Are you ready?" he asked.

They both looked to him and nodded.

"Yes. Please wake our son up." Said Lynn Sr.

Dr. Marino nodded and he motioned to the nurse for the medicine. The nurse handed him a syringe with a clear liquid inside and Dr. Marino inserted the syringe into the IV. As he pushed the plunger on the syringe, everyone in the room waited with bated breath. As Dr. Marino finished, he removed the syringe and threw it into a small wall container.

"The drugs need time to enter his system. He should be awake in a couple minutes. I'll be back to check on him." said Dr. Marino.

He squeezed his way passed the Loud family and left the room, leaving the rest of them to wait for Lincoln to wake up. No one dared to speak during this time. The minutes felt like hours, making the Louds think that maybe the drugs weren't working. After another hour-feeling minute, Rita suddenly felt Lincoln's hand twitch. She looked in surprise and then she looked to her husband, signaling him that he was waking up. They both looked towards Lincoln, and saw his eyes twitching.

"Lincoln?" said Lynn Sr.

The young boy's eyes kept twitching and soon they started to slowly open. His head felt light and hazy, and he groaned with tiredness in his voice. Everyone could feel a smile crawl on their faces as they heard his voice. Lori was getting very close to crying, but she held herself back. Bobby kept his grip on Lori's hand, and have a comforting squeeze. As Lincoln finally opened his eyes, the sight of his family and friends greeted him.

"H-Hey guys." Said Lincoln, in a groggy sounding voice.

The sound of Lincoln talking made everyone smile warmly. This was by far the best part of the day.

"Hey sweetie." Said Rita, tears in her eyes.

"We're glad you're awake." Said Lynn Sr.

Lincoln smiled at his parents and then he tried to clear his throat.

"Do you want some water, Lincoln?" asked Rita.

Lincoln could only nod in response, feeling that his throat was too dry to speak.

"I'll go get some water for him." said Lynn

She quickly left the room and soon returned with a small cup of water. She brought it over and gave it to Lynn Sr.

"Thank you, Lynn." Said Lynn Sr.

He looked to Lincoln and placed his hand on Lincoln's shoulder.

"Alright Lincoln. Let's try to sit you up." He said.

He pressed a button on the side of Lincoln's hospital bed and the part where Lincoln's upper body was started to rise. When he raised it to a more comfortable position for Lincoln to take a drink, he held the cup up to Lincoln's mouth.

"Take small sips Lincoln." Said Lynn Sr..

Lincoln did as his father said and began to take small sips of water, while raising his hands to they were on the cup. As he finished taking a few more sips, Lincoln tried clearing his throat again and took a deep breath.

"Better?" asked Lynn Sr..

Lincoln nodded. "Y-Yeah. Much, thank you."

Lynn Sr. placed the cup on the table next to Lincoln's bed and sat back down next to his wife.

"So, how you feeling, bro?" asked Luna.

"Not bad, I guess. Head feels a little groggy, though." Said Lincoln.

"Well, that's understandable. You have been asleep for a while." Said Rita.

"Really? How long was I out?" asked Lincoln.

"About three days." Said Luan.

"Three day?!" said Lincoln surprised. "Man, I must've been in bad shape, huh?"

No one said a word at that comment. Each member of the Loud family looked extremely sad, which made Lincoln start to worry.

"Guys? What's wrong?" asked Lincoln.

Lynn Sr. and Rita looked to each other and then to Lincoln.

"Lincoln, honey, do you… remember the fire?" asked Rita, cautiously.

Lincoln was silent for a moment as the memory of the fire flooded his mind.

"Yeah, I remember the fire. I don't think I could forget something like that." Said Lincoln.

At that moment, his eyes shot wide as he realized something important from that night.

"Wait! Lily! Where's Lily?! Is Lily ok?!" he asked quickly, in a state of panic, as he raised himself from the bed.

Lynn Sr. held Lincoln's shoulder and gently pushed him back into the bed.

"Lily's ok Lincoln. She's right over there with Leni." Said Lynn Sr..

Lincoln looked over to his older sister and saw the infant in question. Lily looked back at Lincoln and began to reach for him.

"Oh Lily! Let me see her." said Lincoln.

Leni brought Lily over to Lincoln and Lincoln took hold of his baby sister. Lily instantly wrapped her arms around Lincoln's neck and held on to him tightly. Lincoln hugged Lily tightly and placed his hand on the back of her head. Everyone could see tears rolling down Lincoln's cheeks.

"Oh, thank goodness you're ok, Lily." Cried Lincoln.

Lily garbled some baby talk, as if she was trying to say she was glad Lincoln was all right. Lincoln gave Lily a kiss on the head and sniffled a little. Everyone felt their heart warm at the sight of the two siblings being reunited.

"I'm so glad Lily's ok." Said Lincoln.

"We're glad too. Lily wouldn't be here right now if it wasn't for you Lincoln." Said Lori.

"Yeah, little bro. You saved her life." Said Luna.

"You fought the demons of fire a escaped the clutches of death in the name of our little sister." Said Lucy, in her usual monotone voice.

"You're a hero, Lincoln." Said Lana and Luna together.

Lincoln smiled at his little sister's remark. He never thought of himself as a hero before. He brought Lily down to his lap and he looked at his siblings.

"Come on guys. I wouldn't go that far." He said, bashfully.

"Are you kidding?! How many guys do you know that would run back into a burning building to save their baby sister? I can't think of any." Said Lynn.

"I can't either, and I have, like, over a hundred friends on TweetBook." Said Leni.

"You took an extreme risk by going back inside that conflagration to save our youngest sister unit, even when the odds were against your own success." Said Lisa.

"Uh…" said Lincoln.

"You risked a lot by going back in that fire to save Lily." Said Lisa.

"Oh." Said Lincoln.

"Like it or not Lincoln. You are a hero, and we can't thank you enough for what you did." Said Lori.

"Yeah, just don't go making a habit out of it, ok?" said Luan. "We don't need real life Ace Savvy running around Royal Woods."

Lincoln laughed. "Ok, Luan. I'll try and hold back on being a hero." He said.

Everyone chuckled softly at what Lincoln just said. At that moment, Dr. Marino walked back into the room and squeezed through the crowd.

"Phew. Perhaps we should move you to a bigger room." He said, with a chuckle.

He walked over to the side of Lincoln's bed and looked at the white-haired boy.

"Hey there, Lincoln. I'm Dr. Marino. How are you feeling?" asked Dr. Marino.

"Ok, I think." Said Lincoln.

"Good. Let's take a quick look at you." said Dr. Marino

Rita took Lily from Lincoln's lap and held her in her arms. After that, Dr. Marino began to examine Lincoln's eyes and then he began to check his ears.

"Any headaches, soreness, things like that?" asked Dr. Marino.

"No." said Lincoln.

"Any difficulty breathing? Shortness of breath?" asked Dr. Marino.

"Nope." Said Lincoln.

"How about muscle aches in your neck or arms?" asked Dr. Marino.

"Not really, just really stiff." Said Lincoln.

"Well, I wouldn't worry about that. We gave you some muscle relaxers to help you with your muscles. You should be feeling less stiff soon enough." Said Dr. Marino.

"That's good. Quick question though. How do you know if I'm getting too much of them?"

A confused look came over Dr. Marino's face.

"It would depend on what you are feeling. I do have you on the correct amount and they shouldn't affect you too much. Why do you ask?" asked Dr. Marino.

"Well, I don't know if this is anything serious, but… my legs feel kinda numb, like I can't feel them at all." Said Lincoln.

At that moment, everyone in the room had the same saddened expression on their face. Lincoln didn't understand why they were so sad suddenly. Dr. Marino became more serious as he moved down to Lincoln's legs. He removed the blanket from on top of Lincoln, revealing his legs. He then took out a pen and he poked Lincoln's left leg with it.

"Can you feel this Lincoln?" he asked.

Lincoln paused for a moment and then he shook his head. Dr. Marino did the same to Lincoln's right leg, and again, Lincoln shook his head. Dr. Marino moved down to Lincoln's feet and he traced the pen on the bottom of Lincoln's feet.

"Anything?" he asked.

"N-No." said Lincoln.

Dr. Marino sighed sadly. Between his expression and the saddened looks on everyone in the room, it was making Lincoln worried.

"Wh-What's going on? W-Why can't I feel anything in my legs?" asked Lincoln, worry starting to turn to panic.

Lynn Sr. took hold of Lincoln's shoulder and looked at him in his eyes.

"Lincoln." He started to say, but he was having a hard time finding the words.

"Remember when the roof collapsed on top of you?" he asked, cautiously.

Lincoln nodded.

"Well… when it fell on top of you, it… it hurt your spine pretty badly. It damaged the… the nerves in your spine and it… it caused the feeling in your legs to… go away." Said Lynn Sr. sadly.

Lincoln was now in the verge of panicking and he could feel tears forming in his eyes.

"B-But…I-It'll come back, right? It's n-not gonna last forever, r-right?" asked Lincoln.

The Loud sisters' hearts started to fall apart seeing their brother so scared. Lori leaned closer to Bobby and held his arm tightly. Luna brought Luan and Lynn closer to her, while Leni brought the twins, Lucy, and Lisa closer to her. Rita felt her tears fall and she held Lincoln's hand while holding Lily close to her. Ronnie Anna hugged Bobby's legs and he placed his hand on her shoulder. Clyde's dads placed their hands on their son's shoulders, who was on the verge of crying. Dr. Marino closed his eyes sadly and waited for Lynn Sr. to respond. Lynn Sr. felt his heart ache with every second. A tear fell from his eye, and he took a shaky breath.

"N-No, Lincoln. I'm afraid that… that it's permanent. The feeling in your legs will not come back, and because of that you'll…"

He started to say, but his breath caught in his throat.

"You'll never… you'll never be able to… to walk again." He finished.

Lincoln just stared in shock at his father. His words just echoed in his mind. It didn't make sense to him. How could this have happened? Why did this happen? Couldn't this be fixed? Lincoln just stared down at his legs. He didn't know what to do. He didn't know how to react. He placed his left hand on his left thigh and just stared at his legs, lost in thought. By this time, Lincoln had felt his mom and dad start to hug him. His sisters all began to cry, and Bobby did his best to console Ronnie Anne and Lori. Clyde walked over to Lincoln and took hold of his right arm, trying not to touch his burnt hand. Howard and Harold sadly watched the sad scene, holding each other closely. Dr. Marino decided it was best to leave them alone, and quietly left the room, closing the sliding door behind him. Lynn Sr. and Rita just held Lincoln tightly, bracing for any kind of reaction from him.

"I'm so sorry, sweetie." Cried Rita.

Lincoln didn't respond. He didn't even look up at them. He just continued to stare at his legs. Without even realizing it, he felt tears falling down his face. He didn't even know if crying was ok in this situation. Was ok for him to cry over this? Should he be crying over losing his ability to walk? He kept asking these questions over and over again in his mind. He wasn't even aware of what was happening around him. He hadn't noticed that Lori had let go of Bobby and she walked over to him and joined in their parents hug. This led to the rest of his sisters joining in the hug, desperate to give every bit of support to their brother. Bobby held Ronnie Anne close to him as she cried heavily into his shirt. Bobby could only close his eyes in sadness over the scene in front of him. Clyde backed away, giving the Loud family some room. He joined his fathers next to the door and they hugged him tightly. As all of this was happening, many different thoughts began to emerge in Lincoln's mind. He began to think of how this will change the dynamic in his family and how things will never be the same after this. He wondered what changes were going to happen in order to improve his life. But there was one question that kept recurring in his mind. A question whose answer scares him the most out of anything. A question he hoped would be answered soon.

'_Things are going to get better, right?_' he thought to himself.


	4. Chapter 4

Chapter 4:

The past 3 days were nothing if not rough on the Loud family. One the first day, Lincoln was released from the hospital and was given a wheelchair for him to use. However, Lincoln wasn't very receptive to his new means of transport. In fact, he hadn't really shown much reaction to the wheelchair at all. When they left the hospital, Lincoln said nothing to his family. He showed no expression on his face. His parents and sisters figured he was still trying to process everything; which they knew they would need to help him with. When they returned to Mr. Grouse's house, Lincoln was still silent, and he wouldn't move from the living room. He just kept staring down at his legs, never acknowledging who was around him or what was said to him. Everyone, even Mr. Grouse tried to get Lincoln to talk to them but was met with silence. At dinner, Lincoln wouldn't eat any food, not even when his sisters tried convincing him to eat. However, about an hour after they all have eaten, Lori had finally convinced Lincoln to eat his dinner. Later that night, Lincoln was placed on an air mattress that he shared with Lynn and Lucy. Lynn Sr. and Rita would occasionally check on him to see if he was asleep, but the first few times, he kept his eyes on the ceiling. It wasn't until the fourth time Rita checked did she see Lincoln finally sleep.

The second day seemed to be a little better but not by much. Lincoln would eat his breakfast, but he still wouldn't say anything. The Loud sisters had decided to spend the day helping Lincoln process what happened in hopes of getting him to speak to them. Meanwhile, Lynn Sr. and Rita had received a call from one of the contractors Mr. Grouse had recommended to them and were told that he would stop by their house to survey the damage and see what could be done. He would then pay them a visit within a couple days to go over what they could do. Later that afternoon, the fire marshal and a few firefighters stopped by Mr. Grouse's house to bring them any of their possessions that survived the fire. Apart from a few articles of clothing, Lori's cellphone charger, Leni's sewing machine, Luna's signed guitar, Luan's puppet, a couple of Lynn's sports trophies, Lucy's poetry book, Lana's toolkit, Lola's tiaras, Lisa's chemistry set, and Lily's stroller seemed to have made it through the fire. But the one thing that made the difference for them was Lincoln's stuffed rabbit. He's had that rabbit since he was a baby and he never got rid of it. When the Loud sisters brought the stuffed rabbit to Lincoln, he didn't show much reaction at first. However, not long after taking possession of his rabbit, he hugged the rabbit tightly and began to cry softly into it. The Loud sisters gathered around Lincoln and hugged him tightly, comforting him as he finally made a sound.

The third day, Lincoln had started eating regular meals again, and he managed to say a few words to his family. While he still wasn't over the situation, he was starting to feel a little better. The morning was spent packing everything up from Mr. Grouse's house and loaded into the family van. Lynn Sr.'s sister, Shirley, had made arrangement for them to stay at her place until their house was being rebuilt. Once they were settled into their aunt's house, the Loud sisters helped Lincoln arrange his belongings so that he was able to get to them if he needed something. Lincoln wasn't used to all the help that he was receiving. He wanted to do everything himself and felt like getting up from his wheelchair. However, the moment he tried to stand, he would fall over and land on the ground. He would do this at certain parts throughout the day, and it always sent his sisters, and sometimes his mother, into an over-reactive panic. Still, Lincoln managed to calm their worries, but it didn't leave them convinced. Lincoln was still wondering if things were going to get better after all this.

It was now the fourth day since Lincoln's release from the hospital, and the morning seemed to start out slowly for him. He woke up from his somewhat restless slumber, which was starting to feel normal to him. Lincoln looked around the bedroom he was in and saw that no one was in the bed next to him, or in the same bed he was lying in. Due to the lack of space in Shirley's house, the Loud siblings had to share a room with at least three or four others, while Lily would sleep in their parents' room. Lincoln had been selected to share a room with Luna, Lynn, Lucy, and Lisa. Lincoln could clearly see that none of his siblings were in the room with him right now and began to wonder where they went. He looked at the clock on the nightstand next to his bed and saw that it was nearly eleven o'clock, much later than he normally would sleep. Lincoln didn't understand why he woke up so late, but he was soon shaken from those thoughts when he heard the bedroom door open. He pushed his upper body upward and propped himself on his arms to see who was entering the room. His eyes were soon met with the sight of Luna. She smiled warmly at her little brother.

"Morning, Linc." Said Luna.

"Morning." Said Lincoln, a little groggily.

"Sleep well?" asked Luna as she entered the room.

"Yeah, a little. How come nobody woke me up?" asked Lincoln.

"Well, it was a pretty hectic day yesterday, so mom said to let you sleep in a bit." Said Luna, as she started to adjust the blinds to let some light into the room.

"Oh." Said Lincoln.

He wasn't sure how he should've felt about that. Should he be grateful for the extra sleep or annoyed that no one woke him? He just wasn't sure. Lincoln felt like he wasn't sure about a lot of things nowadays, at least, not since that horrible night.

Luna began to make the bed that Lynn and Lisa had to share, keeping her back towards Lincoln.

"Mom's in the kitchen making your breakfast. Should be ready soon." Said Luna.

Upon hearing that word, Lincoln's stomach growled loudly. He sighed and patted his stomach.

"Good thing too. I'm feeling a little hungry already." Said Lincoln.

Luna giggled slightly at Lincoln's remark as she started to gather the extra pillows off the floor. Meanwhile, Lincoln had thrown the covers off his lower body and looked down at his sweatpants-donned legs. Lincoln expression changed to a slightly melancholy look. He wasn't used to the sight of those sweatpants on his legs. Normally he would be sleeping in his underwear. However, due to his condition he wasn't able to feel any sort of temperature, so it was impossible for him to tell whether it was too hot or too cold. Lynn Sr. and Rita felt that the sweatpants would be a good option to keep the cold at bay while under the blankets and insisted that Lincoln wear them. While Lincoln wasn't very receptive to the idea, he could understand his parents' reasoning. Still, it wasn't a sight he was used to. He looked to Luna, who was still busy tidying up the other bed, and then he looked down at the wheelchair sitting next to the bed. A sudden feeling of uneasiness entered Lincoln's mind. He knew that wheelchair was his only means of getting around, but at the same time, he felt so self-conscious about using it. It was like the wheelchair was a symbol of weakness to Lincoln. At that moment, Lincoln had the thought of not using the wheelchair. He wanted to prove to himself that he didn't need it.

Lincoln used his left hand and gently pushed his legs over the side of the bed. He looked down at the ground and then at his legs. He then looked at Luna, who was now gathering some discarded pajamas on the ground. He then looked to the ground again and began to slowly push himself off the bed. Lincoln couldn't feel the sensation of the carpet beneath his feet, but he saw that they were touching the ground. He then began to push himself up off the bed, but that was proven to be a mistake. The moment he lifted himself off the bed, he fell off the bed with a loud thud. This caused Luna to quickly turn around and she immediately saw Lincoln on the ground.

"Lincoln!" she said in a panic.

She quickly raced to her brother's side and she gently helped him sit up on the ground.

"You ok, little bro?!" she asked, worriedly.

Lincoln didn't respond at first, but he gave a slight nod to Luna. Lincoln then looked at his legs, as they just sat there, limp on the ground in a somewhat tangled mess. He sighed sadly at the sight. As if it wasn't bad enough that he fell flat on his face after failing to walk, now he sent his sister into another panic. A sharp sting made its way into Lincoln's heart, which only saddened him more. Luna could see the sadness in Lincoln's eyes. She knew right away that he tried to walk on purpose, and she couldn't blame him for trying. Still, it saddened Luna to see her brother in such a position, and her sadness only grew when she looked down at the bandaged portion of Lincoln's lower back. How she wished she could just take the bandages off and give her brother the use of his legs back. But she knew that reality could never happen. This was permanent and both she and Lincoln knew they would have to live with it.

Luna brought Lincoln's wheelchair closer to them and she gently helped him into it. Lincoln sat himself in the wheelchair, adjusting his legs so that they sat somewhat comfortably in the leg rests, not that he could feel them. Lincoln sighed heavily as he just looked downward towards the ground. Luna sat down on the bed and placed her hand on Lincoln's shoulder. Lincoln looked to his older sister with sadness evident in his eyes. Luna couldn't stop herself from hugging Lincoln; trying to give whatever comfort she could, while at the same time holding back her tears.

"It'll get better, Lincoln." she said, softly.

Lincoln wanted to believe Luna, but his mind was still full of doubts. Luna ended the hug and she got up from the bed.

"Want me to get you a shirt?" she asked.

Lincoln shook his head.

"No, I can get one. Thanks." He said, in a depressed tone.

Luna didn't question Lincoln's decision, knowing that she couldn't help him with everything, even though she wanted to. She could only watch as Lincoln wheeled himself over to the closet and pull out an orange t-shirt. He donned the t-shirt over his head and adjusted it so that it was sitting nicely on his torso. After that, he started to make his way towards the hallway.

"I'm gonna go eat now." He said.

"Ok. I'll be in here if you need me, bro." said Luna.

Lincoln exited the room and began to wheel himself towards the kitchen. He could instantly smell the scent of bacon and eggs, and his stomach growled more in anticipation. However, food was the last thing on his mind. He was still thinking about the incident a minute ago with Luna. He kept replaying it over and over again in his mind. He was so distracted by his thoughts; he didn't see that someone was walking out of the living room.

"Good morning Lincoln."

Lincoln stopped and looked up to see Luan standing in front of him.

"Oh, morning Luan." He said, trying to take the depressed tone away from his voice.

Luan still picked up on the tone in his voice, but she didn't show her concern to Lincoln.

"On your way to get some grub?" asked Luan.

"Yeah, Luna said mom was making eggs and bacon for me." Said Lincoln.

"Cool. Sounds like an 'eggcellent' meal to start the day." Said Luan, with a laugh.

Lincoln noticed two things when Luan made that pun. One, the pun wasn't very good, which was normal for her. The other, when she was laughing at her own joke, she didn't sound all that into it. It was like she didn't think her own joke was funny. That wasn't normal for her, and it was becoming a concern for Lincoln. However, before he could ask Luan if she was all right, she walked past him.

"Well, I won't hold you up. Have a good breakfast Lincoln." Said Luan, as she made her way to the stairs.

"Yeah, thanks." Said Lincoln.

Lincoln continued on his way, making it to the kitchen where he found his mother cooking at the stove and his aunt Shirley setting his place at the table. Shirley was the first to spot Lincoln and gave a smile to him.

"Good morning Lincoln." She said, kindly.

Rita turned around and saw Lincoln entering the kitchen.

"Good morning, honey. Did you sleep okay?" she said.

"Yeah, I slept ok." Said Lincoln, keeping his voice in a normal tone.

"That's good. I'm just finishing the eggs now. Why don't you head over to the table and I'll be right over with your breakfast." Said Rita, as she turned around to finish cooking on the stove.

Lincoln rolled over to the table and pulled alongside one of the chairs. Unfortunately, the table was a bit taller than the wheelchair, so Lincoln had to switch from the wheelchair to the kitchen seat. He pulled the chair out and he positioned his wheelchair so that he could transfer himself over a little more easily. Shirley walked around and was about to put her hand on Lincoln, but Lincoln stopped her.

"I can do it Aunt Shirley." He said, rather hastily.

Shirley was a little surprised by Lincoln's reaction, but she took a step back to give Lincoln his space.

"Ok, Lincoln. If you say so." She said, somewhat unsurely.

Shirley looked back at Rita who shared the same look of concern on her face. Meanwhile, Lincoln had managed to push himself off his wheelchair and he took his left hand and placed it on the backrest of the kitchen seat. He then twisted his body and lowered himself onto the seat. From there, he guided his legs to the front of the seat where they dangled down in front of the seat. After that, Lincoln pulled himself closer to the table and began to wait for his breakfast. Shirley took a seat next to Lincoln and Rita finished cooking the eggs. She poured the eggs onto the plate next to the bacon and she put the pan in the sink. After that, she grabbed the plate and brought it over to Lincoln.

"Here you go. Enjoy." Said Rita, as she placed the plate on the table in front of Lincoln.

"Thanks mom." Said Lincoln.

Lincoln began eating his breakfast at a somewhat slow pace, but he seemed to be enjoying his food. At least, that was the hope of both Rita and Shirley.

"So, any plans for today Lincoln?" asked Shirley.

"Not really." Said Lincoln, with his mouth full.

"Well, you could always give Clyde and Ronnie Anne a call." Suggested Rita.

"Yeah, I guess." Said Lincoln, somewhat unsurely.

"They probably miss you, Lincoln. You should go spend some time with them. Plus, you're still on winter break so you three could go do something fun before school starts up again." Said Rita.

Lincoln remained silent as he continued to eat his breakfast. Rita could clearly see that Lincoln was still unsure about seeing his friends, and she could understand why. She placed her hand on Lincoln's shoulder, causing him to look at her.

"Honey, are you worried that Clyde and Ronnie Anne will treat you differently because of your condition?" asked Rita.

Lincoln looked away sadly, giving enough of an answer for Rita. She looked to Shirley, who took the message to give them some privacy. Shirley left the kitchen, leaving Rita alone with her son.

"Lincoln, look at me." Said Rita.

Lincoln did as she said, but the sadness was still evident in his eyes. It pained Rita seeing her son like that. Nothing hurts her more than seeing any of her children so sad. This was the moment where she needed to summon all the comfort she could to make her son feel better.

"I know you're nervous about seeing your friends, Lincoln. Especially since they haven't seen you in your wheelchair yet. But you shouldn't try an avoid them. They're still your friends and no matter what condition you're in, they'll always be there for you and accept you. They would never treat you any differently." Said Rita, in her most comforting voice.

Lincoln took in his mother's words and he knew deep down that she was right. He knew that Clyde and Ronnie Anne wouldn't treat him any different because of his condition, but at the same time, he was still worried about their reaction. They haven't seen him in his wheelchair yet and he wasn't sure how they would be when they see him. Still, avoiding them wouldn't prevent the inevitable. Sooner or later he would have to see them, so it might as well be today.

Lincoln looked up to his mother and said "Ok, mom. I'll give them a call."

Rita smiled and gave Lincoln a kiss on the head.

"Good. I hope you have a good time with them. Be sure to ask Lori to drive you in case you're going out. I'd take you but I have to wait here with your father for the contractor to arrive." Said Rita.

"Ok. I'll be sure to ask." Said Lincoln.

Lincoln finished his breakfast shortly after and was soon in the hallway where he found the phone hanging on the wall. It took a little bit of reaching, but he managed to get the phone off the wall, and he was now dialing Clyde's number. He pressed the call button and brought the phone up to his ear. The phone rang a couple times before he heard one of Clyde's dads' voices.

"_McBride residence. This is Harold."_ Said Harold

"Hey Mr. McBride. I-It's Lincoln." Said Lincoln, somewhat nervously.

"_Oh, Lincoln. It's so good to hear you. How are you doing?_" asked Harold.

"I'm ok, I guess. Just trying to get used to everything." Said Lincoln.

"_Well, I'm sure everything will be better soon Lincoln. It might seem hard now, but things will become easier in time. Trust me on that._" Said Harold.

Lincoln tried to smile at Harold's words, but the uneasiness in his mind made his smile falter a bit.

"I'll try to keep that in mind, Mr. McBride. Say, is Clyde home?" asked Lincoln.

"_Yes, he is. I'll go get him for you. He's been wondering how you're doing. Just hold on one second_." Said Harold.

"Ok." Said Lincoln.

There was a long silence on the other end of the line as Lincoln waited for Clyde. Lincoln was still nervous about seeing his best friend, especially now. He wished he could predict how Clyde would react, but there was no way to do that. Lincoln figured he would have to brace for whatever happens, for both Clyde and Ronnie Anne. Just then, Lincoln heard the voice of his best friend.

"_Lincoln!_" said Clyde, excitedly.

"H-Hey Clyde." Said Lincoln, nervously.

"_Oh man. It's so good to hear your voice. Are you doing ok?_" said Clyde.

"Yeah. I'm doing ok Clyde. Just getting used to it all." Said Lincoln.

"_Well, at least you've got your family to help. And me and Ronnie Anne too._" Said Clyde.

Lincoln smiled at his friend's remark.

"Thanks Clyde. I appreciate that." Said Lincoln.

"_What are friends for?_" said Clyde.

"Listen, do you think we can hang out today at your house?" asked Lincoln.

"_Of course. My dads won't have a problem with that._" Said Clyde.

"Cool. And, do you think you could give Ronnie Anne a call and have her come over too?" asked Lincoln.

"_Yeah. I'll give her a call and see if she wants to come over. When do you want to stop by?_" asked Clyde.

"How about around one?" said Lincoln.

"_One it is. We'll see you then Lincoln." _said Clyde.

"Cool. And Clyde?" said Lincoln.

"_Yeah?_" said Clyde.

"Thanks for being such a good friend." Said Lincoln.

"_Like I said. What are best friends for?_ _I'll see you at one._" Said Clyde.

"Yeah. See you then." Said Lincoln.

He hung up the phone and reached up to place it back on the wall holder. Lincoln sighed heavily, feeling like he just jumped a major hurdle. Still, it was one thing to talk to Clyde over the phone. Now he would have to see him and Ronnie Anne in person. That would be the next nerve-wracking thing Lincoln would have to do. Thinking that maybe a warm shower could help calm his nerves, Lincoln headed towards the bathroom, which was on the second floor. This meant that Lincoln would have to ask for help getting upstairs, which he still wasn't used to. He rolled past the stairs and looked up to the second floor. He sighed, wishing he could climb them himself. Lincoln then continued on into the living room where upon entering, he found Lynn, Lola, Lana, and Lori. Lori was on the couch, looking at her phone, which Lincoln assumed had Bobby's text messages on it. Lynn was sitting on the floor, casually rolling a soccer ball on the ground between her hands while watching a soccer game on the TV. Lana and Lola were sitting just in front of the couch petting the family pets. They were reunited with their furry and feathery friends the same day after moving into Shirley's house.

Lincoln wheeled into the living room, which caught the attention of his younger twin sisters.

"Hey Lincoln." Said Lana and Lola together.

At that moment, Lori and Lynn looked at Lincoln as well.

"Morning Lincoln." Said Lori.

"Hey Linc. Doing ok?" said Lynn.

"Morning guys. Yeah, I'm ok. Uh… listen, um… can I… get some help getting upstairs?" said Lincoln, somewhat uneasily.

Without missing a beat, Lynn stood up and walked over to Lincoln.

"Sure. I'll carry you up." She said.

At that moment, Lana and Lola got up as well.

"We'll carry your wheelchair up for you." said Lola.

"Yeah, we'll help you out Lincoln." Said Lana.

Lincoln smiled slightly at his younger siblings.

"Thank you. I appreciate that." He said.

He then looked at Lori and said

"Hey Lori? I'm supposed to head over to Clyde's house around one. Do you think you could take me?"

Lori looked up from her phone and smiled at Lincoln.

"Sure Lincoln. Just let me know when you're ready to go." She said.

Lincoln nodded and began to roll towards the stairs. However, he didn't get far before Lynn stopped him. Lincoln didn't understand until he saw Lynn looking at the twins.

"Alright. Ready you two?" she said.

The twins nodded affirmatively. Before Lincoln knew it, he was hoisted onto Lynn's back and she began to carry him towards the stairs. Meanwhile, Lana had folded Lincoln's wheelchair and she and Lola picked up the wheelchair. The four of them were soon headed upstairs and upon reaching the top, the wheelchair was unfolded, and Lincoln was gently placed in it.

"There ya go." Said Lynn.

"Thanks guys, but a little warning next time you decide to just pick me up like that." Said Lincoln.

"Right, uh, sorry. I'll tell ya next time." Said Lynn.

"Let us know if you need any help getting downstairs again." Said Lola.

"Sure, I'll you know." Said Lincoln, somewhat unsurely.

Lynn began to head back downstairs with Lana and Lola in tow, leaving Lincoln to watch them descend down. When they were at the bottom of the stairs Lincoln headed for the bathroom. Upon reaching the bathroom, he opened the door to find Leni sitting on a stool applying some eyeliner to her face. When she heard the door opened, Leni turned around to see Lincoln.

"Oh, good morning Lincy." She said.

Lincoln gave a slight smile to his older sister.

"Morning Leni. Sorry for not knocking. I didn't know you were you in here." he said.

"Oh, it's ok. I was just finishing up in here anyway. Did you need anything?" asked Leni.

"N-No, I don't need anything. I just came in here to get a shower." Said Lincoln.

"Ah, say no more. I'll give you some privacy." Said Leni, as she got up from the stool and picked it up.

She began to leave with the stool, but Lincoln stopped her.

"Uh, Leni?" said Lincoln.

Leni stopped in her tracks and looked at Lincoln in confusion.

"I, uh… I kinda need that stool." Said Lincoln, uncomfortably.

For once in her life, Leni actually followed what Lincoln was trying to tell her. She understood that he couldn't bring the wheelchair into the shower, so he was going to have to use the stool.

"Oh, right. Do you want me to put it in the shower for you?" asked Leni.

"No, I'll do it myself." Said Lincoln.

"Oh, uh… ok." Said Leni, as she handed the stool over to Lincoln.

She felt unsure about giving Lincoln the stool. What if he needed help getting on and off it? What if he needed help while he was in the shower? He couldn't do everything in the shower, so what could she do to help without upsetting him? These thoughts were disturbed when Leni heard Lincoln clear his throat.

"Uh, Leni? A little privacy, please." Said Lincoln.

"Oh, yeah, yeah. I'm going. Call if you need anything." Said Leni, somewhat cheerfully, though with a hint of concern.

She left the bathroom and closed the door behind her. Lincoln sighed as he wheeled himself towards the shower. The only good thing about the shower was that it was flush to the rest of the bathroom floor, which he could easily wheel into. He placed the stood in the center of the shower and he wheeled himself out of it. He then began to undress himself, taking care not to disturb the bandages on his lower back. When he finished, he gently and carefully removed the bandages and the soft cloth that was covering the surgery and third degree burn scars and discarded them into the trash can next to the sink. Lincoln then when back to the shower and turned on the water, waiting for the water to warm up. It didn't take long for the temperature to reach the perfect setting and Lincoln carefully hoisted himself onto the stool. It was a good thing the stool wasn't really high, otherwise he would have a difficult time climbing up onto it. He then closed the shower curtain behind him pushed his wheelchair slightly out of the way.

As Lincoln began to wash himself, the nagging thought of his first meeting with his friends since the hospital kept crawling into this mind. The whole dynamic of their friendship would change after seeing him in the wheelchair. They would be doing more for him than he'd like. It was bad enough receiving all this attention from his family, the last thing he wanted was to make his friends feel obligated to do the same. Lincoln had just washed the shampoo out of his hair as he kept thinking about Clyde and Ronnie Anne. It was only then did he realize that he wasn't alone. He felt another set of hands carefully washing his back around the scars. When he realized the other person, Lincoln yelped in surprise, and began to cover himself. He turned his head over his shoulder and saw Leni standing there with a soapy rag in hand.

"LENI! WHAT ARE YOU DOING?!" shouted Lincoln.

"I-I was just washing your…" said Leni, worriedly.

"I CAN DO IT MYSELF! I DON'T NEED ANY HELP!" shouted Lincoln, somewhat angrily.

"But…" said Leni.

"GET OUT!" shouted Lincoln, forcefully.

Leni flinched in response and she quickly retreated out of the bathroom. She closed the door out of the bathroom, and she backed away, resting herself against the wall. She trembled slightly and slide down to the ground.

"What's was all that shouting?" said a voice.

Leni looked up and saw the rest of her sisters gathering around her. To them, it looked like Leni had just been scared out of her mind.

"Leni, what happened?" asked Lori.

"I-I… I was just trying to help Lincoln wash his scars, b-b-but he just got angry with me a-and I don't know why. I-I didn't mean to upset him." Said Leni, tears threatening to fall from her eyes.

"No, Leni. It's ok. It wasn't anything you did. You did nothing wrong. Lincoln just… he just wants to do things himself." Said Luna, now kneeling next to her sister.

"But why? Why won't he let me help him?" said Leni, sadly.

Most of the Loud sisters didn't have an answer. All, except for Lisa.

"Well, to put it simply. Lincoln is experiencing a lack of autonomy and has taken upon himself to provide certain physical services to himself so that he can keep up the façade that he requires no external assistance." Said Lisa.

The other Loud sister didn't understand what Lisa was talking about.

"You call that putting it simply?" said Lynn.

Lisa sighed in annoyance.

"What I'm trying to say is, Lincoln is trying to maintain his independence by doing everything he normally would do by himself. He's trying to prove to himself that he doesn't need any help from anyone." Said Lisa.

"But he can't do most things anymore. Why wouldn't he just accept that and ask for a little more help?" asked Lana.

It was then that something clicked inside Lori's head.

"Because Lincoln just wants to feel normal." She said.

The other sisters looked to Lori.

"What do you mean?" asked Luan.

"Look, Lincoln's been through a lot in the past few days. He just had our house collapse on him, lost his ability to walk, and now he forced to roll around in a wheelchair. Nothing about this is normal to him, and that includes asking us for help when he doesn't want it. Lincoln is trying to make everything seem like nothing's happened. He's trying to maintain a sense of normalcy." Said Lori.

It was then that the other sisters understood what Lori was saying. All of this was starting to make sense.

"So, what can we do? Lincoln has to know that he can't do everything himself." Said Lana.

"We just have to give him time. He'll come to us when he's ready." Said Lori.

"We can only hope that the demons in his soul won't force him further from our reach." Said Lucy.

"I don't think it'll come to that Lucy." Said Luna.

"Come on. Let's head downstairs. No reason for all of us to be standing outside the door when Lincoln is done." Said Lori.

Agreeing with their elder sister, the ten of them headed downstairs to wait for Lincoln to be finished.

A short time later, Lincoln had finished his shower and had just rinsed his mouth out after brushing his teeth. It was difficult to keep himself steady at the sink as he performed the task, but he managed to lower himself back into his wheelchair. Lincoln adjusted his legs again, and then checked his towel. During this time, Lincoln had begun to think about his reaction to Leni helping him. He never meant to scare her or yell at her like that before. In fact, he never wanted to yell at her in the first place. He couldn't explain why reacted the way he did. Lincoln knew he was gonna have to apologize to Leni as soon as he saw her.

Lincoln left the bathroom and headed for the stairs, where he encountered a new problem, getting back downstairs. Lincoln sighed.

'_Of course. Forgot about getting downstairs'_ thought Lincoln, sarcastically.

Lincoln was very reluctant to call for help, but he knew he wouldn't have any other choice if he wanted to get back downstairs.

"Girls? Anyone? A little… A little help, please." Said Lincoln, reluctantly.

Within moments, Leni and Lynn had met Lincoln at the top of the stairs.

"Do you need a hand Linc?" asked Lynn.

"Yeah, I need to get downstairs." Said Lincoln, somewhat sadly.

"Don't be sad Lincy. We'll help you." said Leni.

"Thanks. And Leni? Sorry for yelling at you earlier." Said Lincoln, as he sadly looked at his sister.

"Oh, it's ok Lincy. I shouldn't have surprised you like that to begin with. Next time, I'll ask if you want some help." Said Leni, as she gave Lincoln a hug.

Lincoln returned the hug and the two of them just stayed like that for a couple seconds. Lynn just smiled at the two of them as they ended their hug.

"Alright, you ready?" said Leni.

"Yeah." Said Lincoln.

Leni gently picked up Lincoln bridal style, careful not to let Lincoln lose his towel or cause discomfort to his lower back. Meanwhile, Lynn had picked up Lincoln's wheelchair and began to follow them down the stairs. Once on the bottom, Lynn had placed the wheelchair on the ground, and Leni gently placed Lincoln in it.

"Thanks Leni, Lynn." Said Lincoln.

"No problem Linc." Said Lynn.

"Do you need anything else?" asked Leni.

"N-No, thank you though. I'm just gonna go get dressed." Said Lincoln.

"Alright. We'll be in the living room if you need us." Said Leni.

And with that, the three of them dispersed and Lincoln went to get dressed. As he rolled into his room he went over to the closet and picked out his favorite orange collard shirt and his pants. He then picked out a pair of briefs and a pair of socks from the dresser drawer and placed all the articles on the bed. He then rolled over to the nightstand and opened the drawer and pulled out a small tube of cream and some bandages and wrapping gauze. Because the surgery scars still needed time to heal, Lincoln had to keep it covered and disinfected. Again though, this was something he would need help with, but he would cross that bridge when the time came. Lincoln placed the medical items on the nightstand and began to get dressed. He carefully placed his underwear and pants on, which was difficult since he couldn't move his legs to stand or adjust himself. Still, he managed to get both on without too much issue and he put his socks on right after. Now came the part with the cream and bandages. Lincoln grabbed the medical items and his shirt and rolled out of the room towards the living room.

When he arrived, he found his sisters gathered around watching TV. Their attention was shifted to him when he entered. Lincoln's eyes shifted around slightly, trying not to look directly at his sisters. He could only sigh heavily, and he looked back at them.

"Can… can someone help put my bandages on?" asked Lincoln.

The Loud sisters looked at each other, not saying a word. While they would all jump at the chance to help Lincoln, they all still have one reservation. His scars. That was the one thing they all hated to see. It was a constant reminder of that horrible night, and it scared them. It was a reminder that they all almost lost their only brother, and that day in the hospital when they told him about his condition. Seeing the scars just reminded them about how hurt Lincoln really was. There wasn't a single sister among them that didn't have the urge to cry every time they saw the scars. Still, the fact remained that Lincoln asked for help and at that moment, only one of them was brave enough to do so.

"Sure Lincoln. Come over here and take a seat on the couch. I'll put them on for you." said Lori.

Lincoln did as his oldest sister asked and rolled over to the couch. He placed the medical supplies in Lori's hands, and she placed them on the coffee table. Lincoln rolled next to the couch and he carefully placed himself on it, letting his feet dangle over the edge. He left his shirt sitting on his lap. Lincoln then positioned himself so that he back was to Lori. Lori just took a moment to look at his scar ridden back. Red blotches from the burns littered his lower back, but those weren't the most obvious. The long straight surgical line down the middle of his back stared directly back at Lori and the others. Every single Loud sister felt a sharp pain in their hearts, and each of the Loud sisters reacted in a different way.

Leni covered her mouth and tried blinking away her oncoming tears. Luna comforted her sister, feeling her own sadness growing. Luan held her ventriloquist puppet closely to herself. Lynn just stared at the scar, feeling a mix of sadness and anger at it, like it was the scar's fault for what happened to Lincoln. Lucy didn't show much reaction, but if anyone would tell you, you could see a visible tremble in her hands. The twins sat closer to each other, and despite some dirt on Lana's hands, Lola held her twin's hand. Neither of them wanted to let go. Lisa studied the scar intently, thinking of all sorts of ways to reverse the damage done, but nothing she could come up with would work and it only saddened her every time she came up with a new plan or theory. Lily couldn't bear to look at the scar, as it made her feel really sad, almost to the point where she would start to cry, and she began to seek comfort from Lynn.

Lori began to apply the cream to Lincoln's back carefully, as to not hurt Lincoln if he felt any pain. She tried hard to keep a brave face but inside, she wasn't fairing much better. It hurt her seeing her brother in this condition. Every night she wished that none of this happened, but it never came true. She knew they would all have to live with this, but it wasn't going to be easy.

Lincoln just sat on the couch in silence as Lori applied the cream on his back. He didn't need to be psychic to feel the sadness in the room. He could tell that seeing the scars on his back upset his sisters. He wished Lori would finish applying the cream quickly and get the bandages on, so they didn't have to look at the scars any longer. Lori must've picked up on Lincoln's thoughts, and she finished applying the cream. From there, she placed the bandage over the scar, and she carefully wrapped the gauze around Lincoln's stomach and back. When she finished, taping the gauze. Lincoln quickly put his shirt on and looked and his sisters. They all tried to keep a brave face for him, but Lincoln could tell that they were still upset. All he could do was return their smiles with a sad one of his own. Lincoln then looked to Lori.

"Thanks Lori." Said Lincoln.

Lori smiled at her little brother. "You're welcome Lincoln. Let me know when you're ready to go to Clyde's." she said.

Lincoln nodded and he began to put himself back in his wheelchair. Once he did, he rolled himself out of the room, leaving the Loud sisters behind in the living room. As Lori watched Lincoln leave, she felt herself take a shaky breath, as she looked to her other sisters. They all were still feeling the sadness of the situation. Lori stood up from the couch and cleared her throat, catching her sister's attention.

"Remember girls, we have to be strong for Lincoln. We can get through this." Said Lori.

The others nodded in agreement, but the hesitation and uncertainty were still present in their minds. Helping Lincoln to deal with his condition wasn't going to be easy. But they all made a promise to help him through it, no matter what. The only question that they each had was how were they going to help him?

Meanwhile, Lincoln had rolled into his shared room and started to look for things to bring with him to Clyde's house. He didn't really have much left since the fire. All his comics were now burn beyond recognition. Any action figures or video games that he had were either destroyed or not recovered yet. The only thing Lincoln really had now was his rabbit, and his new cellphone, which his mother had bought for him in case of emergencies. Lincoln sighed and put the cellphone in his pocket. As he continued his search for something to bring to Clyde's house, he kept thinking about his sisters. How their reactions to his scars and inability to walk was affecting them. He hated seeing them so sad and broken hearted over something like this. If there was any way to help them ease their heartache, Lincoln wanted to find it. It was at that moment that Lincoln came to a decision. No matter what happens now, Lincoln is going to help his sisters through this. He was going to do whatever it took to make them all, apart from Lucy, smile again. He was going to bring his sisters back. He was going to make them happy. Upon making that decision, Lincoln left his room and went to find Lori for his trip to Clyde's house.


End file.
